Kitchen sink sprayer

ABSTRACT

A kitchen sink sprayer, comprising a body enclosed in an outer enclosure for being gripped and provided with a coupling to a flexible water supply hose connected to a faucet for adjusting the flow-rate between a closed position and an open position, the body comprising a rod which has, at one end, a tip that is adapted to open selectively the access of the water to a duct for forming a central jet and to ducts for forming a peripheral jet, and is provided with means for actuation by the user, the means for actuating the rod having a tab which is connected directly to the rod in an intermediate position of the rod and protrudes from the enclosure of the sprayer, at its lateral surface, by an extent that is sufficient for contact grip by the user when it is necessary to actuate the rod in order to move it from one of its selection positions to the other and vice versa.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/140,182, filed Dec. 24, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication No. 13/097,582, filed Apr. 29, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No.8,727,241, issued May 20, 2014, which claimed the benefit of ItalianPatent Application No. MI2010A000785, filed May 5, 2010, all of whichare incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a kitchen sink sprayer.

It is known that many kitchen sinks are provided with faucets forsupplying water and for adjusting the flow of the water between fullopen and closed positions, which comprise, accommodated in an adaptedduct, a flexible hose that extends at one end from said faucet and isprovided, at the other end, with an element known as a sprayer, which isdesigned to be gripped by the user in order to achieve two goals.

First of all, the sprayer can be managed in order to make the flow ofwater exit in different positions within the sink, and furthermore thesprayer can be required, by way of a simple actuation of means withwhich it is provided, to determine the outflow of the water in the formof a central jet or of a peripheral jet.

The sprayer comprises a body which is enclosed in an outer enclosure forbeing gripped by the user and is provided with a coupling to theflexible water supply hose, and such body comprises a rod provided, atone end, with a tip that is adapted to open selectively the access ofthe water to ducts for forming the central jet and to ducts for formingthe peripheral jet, and is provided with actuation means that allow theuser to move it from one of the two selection positions to the other andvice versa.

The rod actuation means that are known in the background art have all acertain constructive complexity and a consequent rather substantialspace occupation, which in any case is such as to constitute a crucialobstacle in the process of sprayer miniaturization that today is anessential condition for the commercial success thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to provide a sprayer in which therod actuation means have a space occupation reduced to a minimum, so asto allow maximum miniaturization of the sprayer.

This aim is achieved by a kitchen sink sprayer according to theinvention, characterized in that it comprises the features disclosed inthe appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages will become better apparent fromthe description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of thekitchen sink sprayer according to the invention, illustrated by way ofnon-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sprayer of the invention connected toone end of the flexible hose accommodated in the adapted duct thatextends from a faucet, not shown in the figure;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of the sprayer respectively in thecentral jet condition and in the peripheral jet condition; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generallydesignates a sprayer, connected by means of a coupling 2 to one end of aflexible hose 3 that is accommodated in an adapted duct 4 and extends atthe other end from a faucet, which is not shown in the figures, andadjusts the flow-rate of the water between the two extreme positions ofbeing fully open and fully closed.

The sprayer 1 comprises a body 5, which is held in position in an outerenclosure 6 for being gripped by the user, together with the coupling 2,by a plug 7, which comprises at least one duct 8 provided with anaerator 9 for providing the outflow of the water in the form of acentral jet, and at least one and preferably two ducts 10 a, 10 b forforming a peripheral jet.

Within the body 5 a rod 11 is provided, which has a tip 11 a that isadapted to assume, as a consequence of the actuation applied by the useron the rod 11, the two positions shown respectively in FIGS. 2 and 3, soas to open selectively the access of the water, shown by means of arrowsin the figures, to the duct 8 for providing a central jet, as in FIG. 2,and to the ducts 10 a, 10 b for providing a peripheral jet, as in FIG.3.

An important feature of the invention resides in that the means for theactuation of the rod 11 comprise a tab 12, which is connected directlythereto by means of a thread and protrudes from the outer enclosure 6through a slot 6 a by an extent that is sufficient for contact grip bythe user when it is necessary to actuate the rod 11 to move it from oneof its selection positions to the other and vice versa.

The rod 11 is guided in its movements by guiding means which areconstituted by a seat 13 that accommodates the upper end of the rod, andby the walls of a hole 14 provided in a ridge 14 a, said guiding meansbeing arranged on opposite sides with respect to the coupling positionof the tab 12, so as to offer maximum effectiveness. The extremesimplicity of the actuation means of the rod 11 that are present in theinvention is evident from what has been described; this makes itpossible to reduce the space occupation of the sprayer to levels thatwould be impossible by adopting means of the type proposed by thebackground art.

In fact, it is sufficient to consider, merely by way of example, that byadopting a conical outer enclosure 6 such as the one shown in thefigures it is possible to provide a sprayer which, starting from adiameter of 28 mm at the base, blends without discontinuities with aduct 14, which has a diameter equal to 24 mm, such dimensions beingunattainable without the adoption of the means proposed by theinvention.

The described invention is susceptible of numerous modifications andvariations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept:the tab 12 can be, for example, jointly connected to the rod 11 in anymanner, and the sprayer can comprise, in a known manner, a spring whichautomatically determines the return to the central jet position from theperipheral jet position when the faucet is closed.

1. A kitchen sink sprayer, comprising: a body enclosed in an outerenclosure for being gripped by a user and provided with a coupling to aflexible water supply hose, which is adapted to be connected to a faucetfor adjusting the flow-rate between a closed position and an openposition; said body comprising inside it a rod that has, at one end, atip adapted to open selectively the access of the water to at least oneduct for forming a central jet and to at least one duct for forming aperipheral jet, and is provided with an actuating element, wherein saidactuating element comprises a tab that is solidly attached to said rodand protrudes from the outer enclosure of the sprayer, at the lateralsurface thereof, by an extent that is sufficient for contact grip by theuser when it is necessary to actuate said rod to move it from one of itsselection positions to the other and vice versa, and wherein said rodhas a longitudinal axis, said rod being slidingly guided in said body ina sliding direction corresponding to said longitudinal axis of said rod,and said tab being movably guided exclusively in a single slidingdirection that is parallel to said longitudinal axis.
 2. The sprayeraccording to claim 1, further comprising a guide for guiding the rod inits motion, which are arranged on opposite sides with respect to thecoupling position of the tab on said rod.
 3. The sprayer according toclaim 1, wherein the tab of the rod protrudes from the outer enclosureof the sprayer in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis ofsaid rod at a slot provided on said enclosure.
 4. A kitchen sinksprayer, comprising: a body enclosed in an outer enclosure for beinggripped by a user and provided with a coupling to a flexible watersupply hose, which is adapted to be connected to a faucet for adjustingthe flow-rate between a closed position and an open position; said bodycomprising inside it a rod that has, at one end, a tip adapted to openselectively the access of the water to at least one duct for forming acentral jet and to at least one duct for forming a peripheral jet, andis provided with an actuating element, wherein said actuating elementcomprises a tab that is connected by threading directly to said rod andprotrudes from the outer enclosure of the sprayer, at the lateralsurface thereof, by an extent that is sufficient for contact grip by theuser when it is necessary to actuate said rod to move it from one of itsselection positions to the other and vice versa, and wherein said rodhas a longitudinal axis and said threading extends about saidlongitudinal axis, said rod being slidingly guided in said body in asliding direction corresponding to said longitudinal axis of said rod,and said tab being movably guided exclusively in a single slidingdirection that is parallel to said longitudinal axis.